Author:  Faizan Irfan

Mphil scholar (Punjab University)

Lecturer Library Science (Govt. Associate College, Safdrabad)

 Top-Rated Public Libraries in Lahore

In this article, you will come to know about top-rated public libraries in Lahore, Pakistan. Hopefully, you will enjoy reading this.  Although there are many public libraries are serving in Lahore but I am focusing on some top-rated public libraries of Lahore. Which helps the book readers to avail themselves of the opportunity of seeking knowledge? These libraries exist in different parts of Lahore. And these are the following:

1. Punjab Public Library
2. Chughtai Public Library
3. Model Town Library
4. Defense Public Library
5. Quaid-e-Azam Library

 Govt. Punjab Public Library

Govt. Punjab Public Library, Lahore was established on 8 November 1884 by the lieutenant governor of Punjab. The Library starts its operations in Baradari, wazir khan. Other Library places were built in 1939. The library has a grasp collection of books in the entire field of knowledge in Urdu, English, Persian, Arabic, and Punjabi. The total collection of Punjab Public Library is about 375,000 that includes books, magazines, reports more than 500 manuscripts, old gazettes of Punjab. The library has a subscription of 33 journals while the rest are complimentary copies, acquires 170 magazines and 12 dailies.

Facilities and Services

The library provides facilities of reading halls, a reference section, a children’s section, book borrowing, book demand, digitization with additional services of internet and photocopy.

Address:

Library Rd, Anarkali Bazaar Lahore, Punjab 54000

Timing:

Mon-Sat                  8:00am to 8:00pm

Friday                      8:00am to 7:00pm ( 12am-3:00pm Jumma Prayer)

Sunday                    9:00am to 3:00pm

Chughtai Public Library

Chughtai Public Library is serving for 7 years with the vision to equalize education and disseminate knowledge without discrimination. Prof. A. S. Chughtai initiated this project. Dr. Mariam Chughtai is the director of this project. Chughtai Public Library has approximately 22,000 plus collections of resources which includes a wide range of subjects like Art, Culture, Science, Education, Jurisprudence, Medicine, and Philosophy. 3300+ are availing of the collection and enjoying the services of the Library. The Library is serving the people nationally with 2 Branch libraries and 5 Reading Rooms.

Services, Facilities, and Projects:

Chughtai Public Library provides the services of Children Section, Reference service, online Public access Catalog (OPAC), Reading Halls with additional services of Pantry, Photocopying, and Printing, and Wi-Fi. Chughtai Public Library has its official website http://www.chughtailibrary.com that provides digital services to users and providing information about sitting capacity in CPL Libraries to save the precious time of users.

It time to time works on different projects. The current projects on which CPL is working are:

• Digitization Project
• Historic Monuments of Lahore
• Partition Stories of 1947
• Iqbal Lecture Series
• Educational & Summer Camps
• Participation in Children Literature Festival
• Preservation of Text-books

Address:

3XX-3S-1, Canal Park Gulberg 2, Lahore

Timings:

Monday- Saturday                       7:00 am to 12:00am

Sunday                                          9:00am to 12:00am

Govt. Model Town Library

Govt. Model Town Library is a public library established in 1983. It has a rich collection of more than 50,000 books and 15,000 members. Since it is a public library, membership is available at 511 rupees. The library provides access to 70 periodicals & magazines, 28 Newspapers, Free Wi-Fi, an internet lab, and a facility of providing books on demand. Separate reading halls for newspapers and a computer lab also exist. The Library also provides the facility of calligraphy courses. The course is for 3 months and the library provides diploma certificates to the participants.  The library remains closed annually for a month most often in September. As a library, it is very important to the residents of Model Town Lahore. A proportion of the books are only used as a reference and cannot be issued. With the lending library, only two books can be issued at a time.

Address:

Model Town Circular Rd, Block G Model Town, Lahore, Punjab 54700

Contact:

(042) 99332977

Timings

Monday to Saturday                8:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Friday                                      8:00 AM – 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Sunday                                     Closed

Defense Public Library

Defense Public Library Lahore was inaugurated on 14th April 2000 by the Chairman of Defense Housing Authority (DHA) Lahore, Maj. Gen. Muhammad Javaid. Since then the library is providing excellent literary environments for residents of DHA and its surroundings. Besides allowing members to encourage appreciation of literature, Defense Public Library extends an excellent quiet study and work areas for students and professionals. Playing its role in the preservation and public presentation of cultural heritage, the library also orchestrates special activities associated to literacy environments, which include book fairs, lectures, seminars, and exhibitions, etc.

The library has recently been renovated, improving the existing Environments and providing many interesting valuable, and highly demanded books. Presently library has over 8500 members and more than 35000 books are available in the reading halls. Defense Public Library is comprised of two floors. On the ground floor, there is a children’s reading area on the left side. The ground floor also has a separate reading area for men, enclosed by windows. Several young adults sit around here, peering from books to laptop screens, enchanted by some kind of knowledge. On the other side, there is a separate seating area for the elderly. The Library is a little over seventeen years old. The Internet is available, as well as air conditioning in separate rooms. The library makes a simple attempt at attracting people and makes them comfortable.

Membership for this library only costs PKR 150 a year, and the process of getting the library card is simple. Access is granted to everyone on occasion, and membership is not limited to DHA residents. Users can also access the library through their official website https://dpllahore.org/ .

Address:

(Temporary)507 Street No. 22 Phase – III, Sector Z DHA Phase 3, Lahore, Punjab

Timings:

Monday to Sunday     9:00 am – 9:00 pm

Quaid-e-Azam Library

The Quaid-e-Azam Library is a public library located within the Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore, Pakistan. The library was constructed in the mid-19th century during the British Raj comprised of Victorian-era Lawrence and Montgomery Halls. The library has a collection of 125,000 books in English, Urdu, Arabic, and Persian.

As of 2014, the library has 125,000 volumes, both in English and Urdu languages. Nearly two thousand books are added to the library annually. It has more than 17,000 people enrolled as members of the library. The Lawrence Hall is normally used as an assembly room for public meetings and theatrical and musical amusements. Nearly 19,000 people visit the library annually. It is a non-lending library. Day-to-day events have occurred in Quaid-e-Azam Library.

Address:

Bagh-e-Jinnah, Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Jubilee Town, Lahore, Punjab 54000

Services:

• Computer Lab
• CSS Study Room
• Printing and Photocopy
• Cafeteria at QAL
• Hall on Rent
• List of Newspapers
• Request for a Book
• Kindle Device
• Senior Citizen Membership
• News Paper Clippings
• Archive Material
• Suggestions Security Measures

Quaid-e-Azam Library gives a facility of Digital access to people through their website http://www.qal.org.pk/ where people can access their required information in just a few clicks. Library also provides the option of a virtual visit to the library where people can visit the library virtually which is a good service to save users time.

Timings

Monday to Saturday                     8 am–8 pm

Friday                                         8am–12:30pm, 2:30–7pm

Sunday                                         11 am–5 pm

References

1. http://www.qal.org.pk/
2. https://dpllahore.org/ .
3. http://www.chughtailibrary.com

 

 

Author:  Faizan Irfan

Mphil scholar (Punjab University)

Lecturer Library Science (Govt. Associate College, Safdrabad)

 American Library Association (ALA)

The American Library Association (ALA) is the world’s oldest and most powerful library organization. The aim of the American Library Association (ALA) is to “provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services, as well as the profession of librarianship, in order to facilitate learning and assure universal access to information.” It comes into existence on October 6, 1876, in Philadelphia during the Centennial Exposition.

Strategic Planning at the American Library Association

The ALA Council approved a new Strategic Plan (2017 Update) on June 28, 2015, as well as the Association’s new strategic directions for the next three to five years. In the fall of 2018, the ALA Executive Board voted to declare that the ALA’s Strategic Directions for the next three to five years will be guided by a social justice lens.. The following are the four strategic directions:

1. Advocacy
2. Information Policy
3. Professional & Leadership Development.
4. Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Mission & Priorities

Mission: 

“The mission of the American Library Association shall be to promote library service and librarianship,” according to the ALA Constitution. “To provide leadership for the growth, promotion, and improvement of library and information services, as well as the profession of librarianship, in order to facilitate learning and assure access to information for all,” says the mission statement.

Motto:

The best reading, for the largest number, at the least cost.

Priorities:

n 1998, the ALA Council adopted Diversity, Equity of Access, Education and Continuous Learning, Intellectual Freedom, and 21st Century Literacy as guiding principles for steering the Association’s operations and resources. These principles have been expanded to include eight Key Action Areas, which are supplemented by the ALA Ahead to 2015 report. The Association’s current strategic plan, which began with ALA Goal 2000, section 2005, and ALA Ahead to 2010.

Note: Official link to visit virtually American Library Associations: https://www.ala.org/

References

Retrieved from: https://www.ala.org/

 

Author:   Faizan Irfan

Mphil scholar (Punjab University)

Lecturer Library Science (Govt. Associate College, Safdrabad)

National Library of Pakistan

This article is about the National Library of Pakistan. Hopefully, you will enjoy reading this.

Introduction

In 1951, under the Department of Archives and Libraries, a skeleton National Library was founded. Liaquat Memorial Library was merged with the National Library in 1954 and renamed Liaquat National Library. Basically, the Liaquat National Library was renamed Liaquat Memorial Library after the country’s new capital was established. ECNEC approved the scheme for the establishment of the National Library of Pakistan in Islamabad in 1963. However, due to a delay in the approval of the architectural plans and the low priority accorded to the project, construction of the Library building could not begin.

Furthermore, the plans for the library were approved in April 1980, and construction began in 1982. Finally, in September 1985, the ENCEC amended and approved the project for the establishment of the National Library of Pakistan, with a capital expenditure of Rs.130.322 million. The majority of the civil work was completed on time in June 1988, and the library’s holdings and personnel moved into the new facility that same year. On August 24, 1993, the library was launched by Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister, Mion-ud-Din Ahmad Qureshi, and its doors were opened to the public.

Building of National Library of Pakistan

The National Library of Pakistan is located next to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat at Shah Rah-e-Jamhoriat. The structure has four levels and a total covered area of 168,844 square feet, with central air conditioning and heating. Serial Division, Book and Newspaper Delivery Branch, Telephone Exchange, Air-conditioning and Electric Plants are all located on the bottom floor.

Apart from this, the main entrance to the library, Reception, the Digital Information Division, the Public Canteen, the Computer section, the Record Creation section, the Acquisition section, the Planning and Research section, the ISBN Agency, the Preservation & Conservation section, the Lending Division Model Children Library, and Accounts are all located on the ground floor. The first level houses the Online Public Access Catalogue, 04 Reading Halls, Manuscript & Rare Books Department, Establishment, Seminar Room, Class Room, and Meeting Room offices, as well as the On-line Public Access Catalogue.

The top storey of the structure, the 2nd floor, houses the general Stacks as well as 14 research rooms. The book elevators, lifts, and stairwells connect all of the floors. The National Library’s Auditorium, which seats 400 people, has become a focal point for educational and cultural events in Islamabad. The National Library’s reading halls include 500 seats available for readers and research scholars.

The Infrastructure of the National Library of Pakistan

The National Library building has a covered area of 168,800 sq. ft. and was built on land measuring 500x 112ft. On four levels, it is a centrally air-conditioned/heated structure with a storage capacity of one million volumes, 500 general readers’ seats, a staff workspace, an auditorium, and other services.

Vision

The vision of NLP id following: “To become a world-class national library of the region for inspiring creativity and innovation in the country”

Activities of NLP

Conclusionly, the following objectives for the National Library have been established based on the ideological and cultural needs of the people of Pakistan and the importance of the National Library as the nation’s topmost resource centre of its literary heritage and the fountainhead of all kinds of library development in the country:

• To serve as a legal depository for all Pakistani publications unpublished
• To preserve the nation’s literary heritage for current and future generations.
• In order to preserve national bibliographic control, prepare and publish a Pakistan national bibliography and bibliographies.
• To act as a national and international book exchange.
• To act as Pakistan’s ISBN agency.
• And to encourage Pakistani libraries to share resources and adhere to bibliographic standards.

References

Retrieved from: http://nlp.gov.pk/index.html

 

Author:  Faizan Irfan

Mphil scholar (Punjab University)

Lecturer Library Science (Govt. Associate College, Safdrabad)

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international organization representing library and information service users’ concerns. It is the library and information profession’s global voice.

IFLA was founded in 1927 in Edinburgh, Scotland at an international conference. now it has more than 1,500 Members in over 150 countries around the world. IFLA was registered in the Netherlands in 1971 and the Royal Library, the national library of the Netherlands, located in The Hague, generously provides the facilities for headquarters.

Aims of International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

IFLA is a non-profit organization that is autonomous, international, and non-governmental. Its aims are to:

1. Encourage the provision and delivery of high-quality library and information services.
2. Increase public awareness of the importance of good libraries and information services.
3. Represent IFAL’s members’ interests all throughout the world.

Membership of IFLA

Association Members and Institutional Members are the two basic types of voting members in IFLA. Within the broad field of library and information science, associations of library and information professionals, library and information services, and educational and research organizations are all eligible to join as Association Members. Individual library and information services, as well as all types of library and information-related organizations, are eligible for Institutional Membership. As International Association Members, international organizations in our field of interest are welcome to join.

Core Values of IFLA 

In pursuing these aims IFLA embraces the following core values:

1. The endorsement of the principles of freedom of access to information, ideas, and works of imagination and freedom of expression is embodied in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2. The belief is that people, communities, and organizations need universal and equitable access to information, ideas, and works of imagination for their social, educational, cultural, democratic, and economic well-being.
3. The conviction that delivery of high-quality library and information services helps guarantee that access.
4. The commitment to enable all Members of the Federation to engage in, and benefit from, its activities without regard to citizenship, disability, ethnic origin, gender, geographical location, language, political philosophy, race or religion

Regional Offices of International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

IFLA has a Regional Office in each of the IFLA Regions: Africa, Asia and Oceania, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Language Centers

IFLA maintains four Language Centers whose mission is to improve communication among the respective language communities as well as within the IFLA entities. These languages are

1. Arabic
2. Chinese
3. French (in Africa)
4. Russian

References

Retrieved from: http://origin-www.ifla.org/about

 

Author:  Faizan Irfan

Mphil scholar (Punjab University)

Lecturer Library Science (Govt. Associate College, Safdrabad)

Who was Melvil Dewey?

Melville Dewey (1851-1931), “Father of Modern Librarianship,” was a powerful figure. He made an indelible impression on the library profession and had a significant impact on the path it has taken. Dewey rose from humble beginnings to become a famous leader via his tireless efforts and motivating zeal. Apart from this, he was a doer and a visionary with a diverse range of professional interests.

He created library education in the United States, assisted in the formation of the American Library Association, and was the first editor of the Library Journal. Dewey was an inventor, an educator, a wonderful librarian, and a strong administrator, among other things. Much before the famous universal adult education movement, he recognized public libraries as a powerful factor in adult education.

Library Bureau

He founded the Library Bureau, a company that sells library furniture and equipment, as a commercial endeavor. However, most of us associate Melvil Dewey with his Decimal Classification. It is the most widely used categorization system in the world, with 135 nations using it. And it was first published in 1876 and is still in use today.

School of Library Economy 

Dewey became the librarian of Columbia College in 1883, and the following year he launched the School of Library Economy, the first school for librarian education ever established.

Dewey was also the director of the New York State Library from 1888 to 1906, and the secretary of the University of the State of New York from 1900 to 1900. He overhauled the state library, making it one of the most efficient in the country, and established a system of state traveling libraries and photo collections while in that position. Furthermore, he established the New York Library Club in 1885.

American Library Association Medal

The American Library Association’s Council voted in June 2019 to remove Dewey’s name off its highest prize, the Melvil Dewey Medal, citing Dewey’s history of racism, anti-Semitism, and sexual harassment. Furthermore, with no debate, the resolution was passed by a large margin. At the ALA’s January 2020 convention, the prize was renamed the ALA Medal of Excellence.

References

Following are the references for this article.

1. Satija, M.P. (1999), “Irrepressible Reformer: A Biography of Melvil Dewey”, Library Review, Vol. 48 No. 1, pp. 47-
2. 48. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr.1999.48.1.47.5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvil_Dewey